What I Do

Hello. My name is Cheryl Rickman.

I’m an author, ghostwriter, occasional event organiser and general chatterbox.

I write books on flourishing in life and business and I help bring out the book in well-being experts, TV personalities and business leaders who don't have the time to write a mega manuscript (but can totally see the benefits of authoring a book and want to get their message out into the world).

After 13 years as an author and ghostwriter, I now focus on writing books which help people to cope with and cherish life.

I’ve ghostwritten a total of eight books over the past decade, taking my total tally to 15 books.

I’ve been a professional writer for 13 years and self-employed for 18.

During those years, I have worked alongside leaders in their field, interviewed hundreds of popstars and business personalities and had work published in The Huffington Post, Better Business and Psychologies Magazine, among others. I am also an Ambassador for The Network of Wellbeing and have a Lifestyle column in The Daily Echo.

They have also written about my various shenanigans, including my recent #43ActsofKindness. (which is jolly nice of them).

I qualified with a Certificate in Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP) in January 2017, so can now add a "Positive Psychology Practitioner" string to my bow.

Climbing Trees

I also co-founded Climbing Trees with my (then) six year old daughter, which aims to give little girls more choice (because girls like dinosaurs, pirates & robots too). That's our mission.

The Climbing Trees girls characters (see below) also have their own mission: to help children to see past gender-stereotypes and be proud to be all that they are.

Yes You Can!

YES YOU CAN! is a children's storybook in which the Climbing Trees Girls have been brought to life. I wrote the book to challenge gender stereotypes and help children to see past them, show kids that all toys, colours and hobbies are for everyone and encourage them to be proud to be all that they are. In order to get the book published, we launched a Kickstarter (crowdfunding) campaign so we could hire the illustrator and editor and pay for the book to be printed and shipped. I'm thrilled to say, the Kickstarter campaign was a huge success and was funded 10 days before the campaign ended. Check out the campaign video here: http://kck.st/2pUPIDk

Absolutely all that I do is about helping people to FLOURISH in their life, in business and in childhood; to create new empowering habits.

To blossom from seedling to spruce.

To nourish the roots of positivity and sow seeds of hope.

To attract abundance and wellness like sweet blossom attracting bees.

To adapt to change in a resilient way like trees to seasons.

To fertilise and ripen fruitful dreams.

Because this really is our one and only ACTUAL LIFE. Happening right NOW!

If I can help just one person feel less “hmpf” and more “yay”; less pessimistic and more appreciative; less hard on themselves and more proud of themselves… then I will feel like I’ve served my purpose and done what I am here to do; to enable flourishing so people can do what they love, love what they do, and better connect with others and the natural world, to live their best possible life.

Because life is short and precious and wonderful.

I want to live in a RESILIENT world where we are better equipped to deal with stress, cope with hardships and make the most of whatever life throws at us, even the heart-wrenching hard stuff.

I want to live in an ACCEPTING world where we have the choice and freedom to be our true whole authentic selves instead of feeling forced to conform to limited definitions which restrict our ability to shine with confidence and flourish.

A bit more about me...

I was born in Southampton 43 years ago, spent the past 12 years living in a tiny countryside village and currently live in a leafy Hampshire suburb in my dream home. I love trees, friendship and fiorentina pizza. Mmmm. I love stretching out on the sofa with a good book and stretching my legs on daily gratitude walks. I once fell off the stage into the band. I love to read, learn and grow. I also (obvs) adore my daughter, who is my complete and utter sunshine.

WHO I AM:My Story

As a child, I looked up to my incredibly inspirational mum. She had the debilitating disease MS but, despite having plenty to whine about she never complained and constantly smiled.

My mum Denise and dad Roger met when they joined the same pop group and made it through to Melody Maker finals. I found this to be suitably cool and loved them both deeply.

I also loved how passionate my dad was about a) his guitar playing and b) his garden. I noticed a difference in him when he was playing with me or his aforementioned musical / botanical instruments of joy.

Mum once said, 'I may not be able to walk, but I can watch you grow.'

I realised then that how you chose to SEE life and REACT to what is thrown your way really matters in how you get through life and what you get out of it.

Simultaneously I knew from the first time I read Charlie and The Chocolate Factory under our Indian Bean Tree that I wanted to write and that I wanted to work from my home and garden.

Writing from home became my ambition and, today, it is my complete and utter passion (along with reading).

I didn't seem to have the immense imaginative talent to write fiction though, so I wrote features instead.

I interviewed lots of people. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things at first. Then successful people - popstars and rockstars for the music magazine site I set up with my other half, then business leaders and a range of inspirational people for business magazines and how-to-start-and-grow-a-business type books.

I learned a lot about achievement and failure and persistence from these others.

But, from myself, I learned resilience.

When I was 17 years old, my darling mum died.

It hit me hard. How could/why would this happen?

Yet, somehow, I summoned my inner strength, picked myself up and I lived.

I realised then that life was short. Hers was. She was 43.

After I'd come up for air and worked through my grief (and turbo-powered teenage angst/guilt/rebellion) I decided that, I actually wanted to make the most of my life.

And so I stopped fopping around and raving on and sorted myself out.

I became my own boss, working from home, walking my dog in between writing features, websites and interviews.

A decade later, after pursuing and succeeding at my own dreams of becoming a free-range-author, I decided I wanted to help others to do the same; to live with intention and optimism; to make the most of their lives; like my mum had done and like my dad had just begun to do.

The Journey To Flourishing

I decided to study positive psychology – the study of optimal human flourishing.

I wanted to write a book that carved the core pillars of well-being into an easy to read practical guide that could equip people with strategies and habits, whilst taking them on a journey to flourishing step-by-step, month-by-month.

I was drawn to this topic because I had witnessed first hand how different approaches to life can have a huge impact on how we live it and what we get out of it. Life that is.

Dad

Despite his love for music and his awe-inspiring gardening, dad found living a strain. He had always found life tough, from childhood until about 8 years ago when he finally found the job of his dreams, dancing on cruise ships. That was when he started to really LIVE his life, finally.

That said, dad was one of the nicest and funniest men you'd ever meet.

But also, behind closed doors, one of the saddest.

Cruelly, when I was half way through editing the pages of The Flourish Handbook, I learned that my dad had mesothelioma (asbestos-cancer) from his 30 years working for the railways. He'd been exposed to asbestos when he was a 16 year old apprentice.

Just three short weeks after this diagnosis, my dear dad was dead.

I didn’t show him the book as it was about living and he was shockingly about to lose his life. I just told him about it and he was, of course, immensely proud. But I didn’t expect to put the wisdom in that book into practice myself so soon.

My life echoed my prose

Ironically, I’d been writing about how supportive relationships and wells of stored positivity bolster resilience during tough times, and now here I was, living proof of the science behind positive psychology. The content I’d been researching and writing was happening to me in real-time. My life echoed my prose.

Through the intensely heart-breaking shock and tears, I was somehow finding a way to bounce-back, despite it all. Those friendships bolstered my resilience, as did all those years of focusing on the good. It really helped me in my darkest hours during which I cried, 'not him as well?!'

I vowed that serving others would be my life's purpose...

...To help people to make the most of their one precious life.

Not to participate actively in the role of victim and waste the life they had, but to "celebrate everything until further notice" and, if dealt a particularly rough hand, to somehow find the strength and support to bounce back, find the learning within it, seek out the silver lining somehow and get on with living, against the odds. I knew that was possible.

The business of living

Flourish was born and I decided to evolve my ghostwriting business from writing about how to make a business flourish to writing about how to flourish in actual proper LIFE.

Now, as well as penning business books that enable businesses (and thus the economy) to flourish, I also write about resilience and positivity, about gratitude and grace, about purpose and connection.

This is what I completely LOVE to do.

It's empowering to get away from it all - and it's rewarding to see like-minded-ladies being themselves, enjoying themselves, giving themselves a break.

A healthy dose of refreshing self-care

Mostly mums, this group of women have something in common; they often put everyone else first. Self-care takes a back seat while they care for others. This weekender gives them a chance to grab a well-earned high-dosage of self-care before they return to their lives; ones which are dominated by wanting the best for their children.

I want the best for my child too.

And that's where my latest project Climbing Trees sprang from – a clothing brand for girls which aims to give them more choice.

Because part of flourishing is living purposefully and authentically and being proud to be you.

And yet, whilst shopping for clothes for my then three-year-old daughter, we struggled to find clothes in the girls’ aisle featuring her favourite things. There were no dinosaurs, footballs, monsters or superheroes; no trucks, tractors or robots. Graphic clothes featuring those were still reserved for "Boys Only" and kept in the 'boys aisle'. And yet it is through these kind of graphic t-shirts that children express their love for something.

Climbing Trees Kids

We were frustrated. And so, The Climbing Trees Project was launched three years later in 2015, by myself and my (then) six year old daughter, to give little girls more choice, empower them to be proud of who they are and also (while we were at it) encourage more active outdoor play.

We created a range of t-shirts and books along with a range of characters – The Climbing Trees Girls (Eva, Maxi and B) who love to climb trees, get muddy, build, skate, scoot and get active. The girls now feature in a book called YES YOU CAN which we successfully funded on Kickstarter. It's available to buy here.

And so, by day, I write books and am mummy;

by night I work on my projects or see friends.

I know what it’s like to juggle.

I know what it’s like to suffer deep loss. I know what it’s like to want to get your message out there. I know what it’s like to want the best for your children.

And I would love to help you.

Whether you wish to author a book, learn how to flourish in life or business or teach your children how to flourish as they grow – I’d love to hear from you.